Coyotes News

'Yotes Notes: Keller Scores 1st NHL Goal in Season Opener

ANAHEIM -- Coyotes rookie Clayton Keller, playing in his fourth NHL game, scored his first NHL goal on Thursday night in Arizona's 5-4 loss to the Anaheim Ducks in the season opener for both teams at Honda Center.

Keller, whom Arizona drafted seventh overall in 2016, gathered a loose puck in front of Ducks goalie John Gibson and swept it past him at 8:32 of the first period. The goal gave the Coyotes a 2-0 lead.

"It's cool, but it would have been nicer to get the win," Keller said. "Our team is more important so I'm not really focussed on my performance."

Keller, 19, played three games for Arizona at the end of last season and notched two assists. He followed that up by leading the Coyotes in preseason scoring last month with eight points (three goals, five assists) in four games.

"We were up 4-1 and we started to back off," Tocchet said. "It's hard to win in this league. It's really hard to win and you've got to be able to play hard, and I thought we started to back up ... It's a learning lesson, a tough one, because that's a game we should have had ... Anaheim made a push. That's why they're a good team. That's why they've won a lot of games. They stuck with it and we didn't."

* Alex Goligoski assisted on three of Arizona's four goals. He, like Tocchet, said the Coyotes lacked a killer instinct in the third period.

"We were on our heels a little bit and not executing," Goligoski said. "We had a lot of guys looking around and not enough guys taking charge ... I think we just lost focus a little bit and it spiraled out of control a little bit. Good teams don't do that."

• Louis Domingue started in goal for the Coyotes and stopped 36 of 41 shots.

"It's a tough one to swallow," Domingue said. "We should have had that game - 100 percent. You score four goals you've got to manage a win there. Disappointing ... It's the first game for everyone so we're just going to put that behind us and move on because it's a long season."